Mergers and Acquisitions: Key Characteristics of Success

This article discusses the key characteristics of successful mergers and acquisitions, including the selection process, improvements, and short, medium, and long-term success. It also provides examples of successful mergers and acquisitions in the global business world.

Running head: FINANCE
Finance
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Table of Contents
Section 1:.........................................................................................................................................2
Introduction:................................................................................................................................2
Successful in terms of mergers and acquisitions:........................................................................3
Selection process of mergers and acquisitions:...........................................................................4
Key characteristics of successful mergers and acquisitions:.......................................................8
Improvements to be made to ensure the success of mergers and acquisitions:.........................10
Discussing whether successful mergers and acquisitions are successful in short, medium or
long-term:..................................................................................................................................13
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................16
Section 2:.......................................................................................................................................17
Idea 1: The impact of CSR, Accountability and Governance of Firm Performance.................17
Idea 2: Mergers and Acquisitions – Its impact on Management and Employees......................25
References:....................................................................................................................................32

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Section 1:
Introduction:
In the current era, mergers and acquisitions have been used as sound strategic tool related
to corporate restructuring in the global business for a long period. They are appropriate tools in
the hands of the management for accomplishing better efficiency through exploitation of growth
opportunities and synergies (Angwin 2015). It is possible for any business organization to grow
through internal expansion organically or through external expansion inorganically. For internal
expansion, an organization grows gradually with the help of excellence in the normal business
course over time by asset acquisition, introduction of new product lines and substitution of
technologically obsolete equipment. On the other hand, growth via external expansion takes into
account the acquisition of a running business termed as corporate combination (Appelbaum et al.
2017). Inorganic growth is considered as a comparatively quicker way to accomplish growth.
The corporate combinations might take the form of mergers, acquisitions, takeovers and
amalgamations. However, other corporate restructuring tools are available as well in the hands of
the management for contracting or expanding the basic operations of an organization as part of
the corporate strategy.
This section would focus on the statement that the activities related to mergers and
acquisitions have remained high and they are inherent in cross-border and conglomerate global
mergers. For any merger and acquisition activity, it is crucial that the management of the
acquiring organization persuades the shareholders of the target organization that their offer is the
most beneficial along with ensuring success. Hence, the first part of the section would emphasize
on the term “successful” in terms of mergers and acquisitions. The second part would describe

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the selection process of mergers and acquisitions in the context of the global business
organizations. The third part would focus on describing the significant characteristics of
successful mergers and acquisitions. The fourth part of the section would suggest the
improvements to be made to the selection procedure for ensuring success of future mergers and
acquisitions. Finally, the section would shed light on analyzing the success of mergers and
acquisitions in short-term, medium-term and long-term.
Successful in terms of mergers and acquisitions:
The business mergers and acquisitions could be considered as a feasible strategy to grow
the bottom line. The organizations consolidate for removing additional capacity, acquiring
technology rapidly rather than developing the same, raising market access and enhancing the
performance of the target organization (Bailey 2014). In most cases, the business organizations
acquire or merge, as it plans to ensure growth with the objective of providing bottom line
profitability or top line revenue. At the time there is market perception regarding the soundness
of a merger and acquisition strategy, the stock price of an organization could be rewarded. Many
business organizations have expanded their business operations globally and thus, they are not
bound by nation or region. In the current era, most successful organizations are involved in
merging and acquiring businesses throughout the borders of the operating nations.
The significance of sustaining the positive advantages of a merger or acquisition activity
is assuring the success of the post-merger acquisition. If this is the case, the profitable growth
could follow and the valuation of deal is accomplished (Bena and Li 2014). There are few
mergers or acquisitions, which concentrate mainly on gathering a technology. On the other hand,
there are other mergers or acquisitions for which retaining the acquired talent is critical, since the
staffs have crucial knowledge, skills as well as customer relationships ascertaining the value of

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acquisition. If the situation is similar, the organizations are required to engage and motivate
staffs with the help of the concerned process. The new combined organization along with teams
and people could be highly collaborative and innovative, when the integration efforts function
well.
Selection process of mergers and acquisitions:
In order to select mergers and acquisition targets, seven crucial activities take place
occurring as sequential steps, which are described briefly as follows:
Ascertainment of growth markets and services:
The business owners initiate the process of acquisition analysis by detecting growth
opportunities in service lines or business, markets served or a mix of the aspects. For analyzing
growth markets as well as services, the leaders need to gather and evaluate extensive data
including client origin, business program, service mix, field staffs, case mix or utilization and
other rivals (Cartwright and Cooper 2014). For instance, ICICI have witnessed numerous growth
prospects by acquiring the Bank of Rajasthan in India in 2010, since the amalgamation would
considerable improve the branch network of the bank along with strengthening its presence in
Western and Northern India. This deal would mix the franchise of the Bank of Rajasthan with
strong capital base of ICICI.
Identification of merger and acquisition candidates:
The next step of the acquisition process includes the proactive detection of the pool of
likely merger or acquisition candidates that could meet the objectives associated with strategic
financial growth in service lines or identified markets. This constitutes of methodical
identification of “outside the box” possibilities and “probable suspects” with the help of research,

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management experience, consultant use and other methods (Collett 2015). For instance, the
merger between Axis and Enam is a sound example from the perspective of Axis and a
significant deal from the perspective of Enam. In case of Axis, it was about to initiate investment
banking or initiate broking on its own. It might have taken plenty of time, efforts and
investments for Axis; however, Axis has obtained an effective franchise. Thus, Enam is
considered to be an excellent choice.
Assessment of strategic financial position and fit:
In this stage, certain questions are needed to be answered. The first question is to find out
the probable benefits of a transaction with the acquisition, the second one is to identify the risks
and the third question is to compare the selected target with the other target opportunities
(Custodio 2014). In addition, a critical analysis of the credit position and financial position of the
target as well as the combined organizations is dependent on financial estimations and effective
utilization. The analysis concentrates on revenue, volume, balance sheet and cost considerations.
For instance, the acquisition of Ranbaxy by Sun Pharmaceuticals has been a classic
example of a deal related to share swap. According to the deal, the shareholders of Ranbaxy
would receive four shares of Sun Pharmaceuticals for every five shares. This has lead to dilution
of 16.4% in equity value of Sun Pharmaceuticals. The overall equity value is $3.2 billion, while
the size of the deal is $4 billion (Lee, Mauer and Xu 2018). The acquisition is deemed to be
favorable for Sun Pharmaceuticals, as it would assist the organization in filling in its therapeutic
gaps in USA, obtaining greater access in emerging markets along with strengthening the
presence in the local market. Moreover, Sun Pharmaceuticals would become the leading generic

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organization in the space of dermatology, which is presently positioned as third in US with the
help of this merger.
Making a go or no-go decision:
Corporate leadership is required to ascertain the likely merits and demerits of the
proposed mergers or acquisitions based on the above-identified issues along with undertaking
high-quality decision. In the process of decision-making, the leaders detect whether the strategic
value-added case for a combined organization is compelling adequately for continuance (Deng
and Yang 2015). For instance, the deal made between Mahindra and Satyam in India is a suitable
example of explain this decision-making move. After the audit scandal of Satyam, the
management of Mahindra Group has to encounter enormous dilemma over go or no-go decision.
However, the top level managers of the organization have undertaken a bold decision after taking
into consideration the probable advantages and disadvantages of the proposed acquisition. This
clearly implies the fact that the advantages are greatly outweighing the probable disadvantages
(Du and Boateng 2015).
Conduction of valuation:
The fifth step in the process of acquisition includes evaluating the value of the target,
detecting alternatives to structure the transactions related to mergers or acquisitions, analyzing
them and choosing the structure, which would allow the organization in accomplishing its
objectives along with forming an offer. There are three significant methods of valuation, which
include comparable transaction analysis, discounted cash flow analysis and comparable publicly
traded business analysis (Ferreira et al. 2014). For identification of realistic range of valuation,
the corporate leadership needs to choice the most appropriate method.

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For instance, the deal between GTL Infrastructure and Reliance Infratel in 2010 is a
sound example to describe this step. Based on the views of the analysts, the deal has been
cancelled due to valuations. R-Com, the bigger organization, would be the significant driver
related to valuation. In case, it is identified that swap and cash ratio did not work out in its favor,
it might have ascertained to cancel the deal. This implies that the organizations need not
underestimate their value, while at the same time; they should not expect unreasonable returns.
After undertaking such decisions, valuation is deemed to be the most significant step, as the
same could ruin the deal, if anything goes wrong.
Performing due diligence, negotiating definitive agreement and executing transactions:
At the time there is acceptance of offer, the management of the acquiring company needs
to assure full and comprehensive review of due diligence of the target organization for
completely understanding opportunities, risks and issues related to the transactions. According to
Galpin and Herndon (2014), due diligence includes review of the financial, operational and legal
position of the target for assuring information accuracy gathered previously in the process of
acquisition and complete disclosure of information pertinent to the transactions. After the
completion of due diligence, the parties are involved in negotiating definitive agreements. The
regulatory approvals required for transaction consumption are gathered and there is closure of
transactions. At the time of executing the transaction, the acquirer needs to monitor the merger or
acquisition for assuring that the negotiated transactions continue in fulfilling the objectives
developed for the transactions at the completion of strategic analysis.
Implementing transactions and monitoring ongoing performance:

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This specific analysis aims to address certain issues associated with mergers or
acquisitions. Firstly, analysis needs to be made whether the management would undertake tough
operating changes needed for accomplishing the financial advantages (Green 2016). Secondly,
assessment needs to be made regarding the human resource implications. In this regard, the main
aspect to be examined includes board, management, service providers, staffs and community.
Thirdly, it needs to take into account the regulatory and legal issues like approvals from the
court, regulations of the central bank and tax implications. Finally, evaluation needs to be made
about the organizational, financial and community-related failure risks of the potential mergers
or acquisitions (Humphery‐Jenner, Sautner and Suchard 2017). Therefore, a successful
acquisition or merger includes mixing two organizations expediently for maximizing strategic
value along with minimizing disruption to the current operations.
However, all mergers and acquisitions do not follow the identical generic selection
process. This is because mergers and acquisitions differ from each other and therefore, the
selection process would vary based on the type of merger (Kind and Twardawski 2016).
Key characteristics of successful mergers and acquisitions:
The major characteristics of successful mergers and acquisitions are described briefly as
follows:
Successful organizations follow a proven path of general mergers and acquisitions.
Initially, they carry out meaningful strategic planning. With the help of this practice, the
acquisition targets are identified effectively, which are deemed to be superior strategic fits,
instead of mere opportunities for ensuring business growth. Secondly, they carry out their
functions via due diligence work. Such performance varies from the poor performers, since they

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plumb the insides of the business processes, capacities in acquisition targets and abilities of
information systems for ensuring strategic fit and sound valuation (Lebedev et al. 2015). Thirdly,
terms and conditions are negotiated for the transactions, which avoid overpayments. This is
achieved by ensuring that the management is not captivated with the target organization.
Fourthly, planning is made for post-acquisition or post-merger integration. This takes into
account comprehensive communication plan, aligning performance measures and objectives
along with integrating systems and processes. Finally, after the closure of the deal, the successful
organizations execute the assimilation of planned business as well as integration activity
relentlessly. Thus, rigorous management, bold execution and detailed planning are required for
successful mergers and acquisitions (Sarala et al. 2016).
For instance, the horizontal merger of TCS with CMC is an example, which has been
undertaken for consolidating the IT business in the Indian market (Levi, Li and Zhang 2014).
The merger was made with the intent by CMC that it would assist TCS in consolidating the
operations of CMC into a single organization having a rationalized structure, flexibility,
increased financial soundness and enhanced reach. Moreover, it would aid in accomplishing
economies of scale, standardization, productivity enhancements, simplifying business procedures
and concentrated operating efforts.
The successful organizations undertake projects or initiatives for performing integration
and crucial techniques of project management for managing all initiatives. All organizations
have unique mix of strengths and weaknesses as well as market-facing techniques. The mix of
these influential dynamics indicates the particular objectives to be used by the organizations so
that the new business units could be assimilated (Lohrke, Frownfelter-Lohrke and Ketchen Jr
2016). The well-structured and effectively managed initiatives are deemed to be a significant

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characteristic of the successful merger and acquisition organizations. The formal program
management needs elements like discrete milestones, detailed project plan, risk management and
processes related to change management.
For instance, Amazon has acquired Whole Foods for $13.7 billion in 2017. Amazon is a
giant e-commerce retailer, while Whole Foods is a high-end grocery chain selling organic
products. With the help of this acquisition, Amazon has received access to numerous physical
stores and as a result, it has assisted the organization to enter into the competitive food and
grocery industry in US.
The successful organizations devote meaningful attention to match the cultures and
human resource matters like management retention (Schmidt 2015). If an organization is going
through a merger or an acquisition, it is known that the various cultures of the organizations, the
situations would be challenging. In case of hostile takeovers, the situation could prove to be
devastating. The staffs often find that the behaviors rewarded in the past by the organization
could lead to dismissal or demotion. However, there might be change in performance criteria like
the individuals gauging their performance (Marks and Mirvis 2015). When such situation occurs,
the management in the acquired organization and staffs become defensive, resentful and
threatened. The loss of significant leadership in crucial transitional periods might hamper the
deal and even at the time the overall deal stays intact, the resulting business stability drains
additional time and energy from the leftover managers that the new organization would have to
bear additional time for accomplishing the goals related to estimated financial performance.
Majority of successful merger and acquisition organizations initiate a formal cultural
management structure into integration planning.

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Improvements to be made to ensure the success of mergers and acquisitions:
In general, the process of M&A is identified with a specific culture fit, geographic
location and product to the market, the industry and business perspectives. The focus of the
M&A is seen to be based on the evaluation of the liquidity and financial capability. In general,
M&A is not simply considered as a financial transition and it may be easily misinterpreted if the
same has been considered. Some of the various types of the improvement measures need to be
discerned in terms of the liquidity above the profit-and-loss statements. Some of the necessary
enhancements which may be brought to the merger and acquisition process need to be depicted
as per keeping an eye on the capital structure and using strategies pertaining to debt and equity
accessing. Secondly, the M&A activity needs to be also considered with the consideration with
three divisions: finance, sales and marketing and operations (Deng and Yang 2015).
Depending on the uniqueness of the situations one may need to incorporate external help
from the investment bankers, accountants, legal counsel and experts on valuation. It is also
extremely important to eye on the objectivity of the experts and communicate on a constant
basis. Some of the other areas of improvement in the process of M&A can be further brought
about with the objective of boosting market share. This is important in case of considering the
new products, services and intellectual property as per the corporate objectives. The establishing
of the goals needs to be also ensured with achieving the right strategy for market integration. It is
also necessary for considering sharing the information in a secure and safe manner (Luong et al.
2017). It is further important for the business houses to obtain the best leadership team which
will be able to ensure that the planning of the merger process of the entities are proceeded with
the relevant form of the measures pertaining to the issues of compatibility and integration
(Brueller, Carmeli and Markman 2018).

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Some of the other ideas which need to be considered to ensure the success of the M&A
need to be depicted in form of knowing about the potential partners of the mergers. It is also
important to know about the present active clients of the company who may be getting affected
pertaining to the M&A procedure. Some of the other forms of the depictions of the success need
to be identified with the issues pertaining to the state or federal tax authorities. This will be able
to ensure signalling of the potential threats which may rise in the future. Some of the other
relevant factors need to be also considered by deep dividing into the operations of the company.
This will include the several such as what does the employee files look like and whether they are
seen to be having any operational procedure in place to execute the policies in an effective
manner (Swaminathan et al. 2014).
The enhancement in the merger process can be also brought about with the number of the
initiatives which are seen to be depicted as per ensuring full buy-in from all parties. This is
inferred to be excluding the owners and stockholders of the business. It is also important for the
parties to understand on the number of factors which are seen to be directly associated to the
factors such as change operations (Meyer et al.2018). The contributing success factors needs to
be also diners as per number of the initiatives which are seen to be related to the pre-transaction
success factors. This begins with choosing of the right partner, creating and maintains the trust
among the partners and performing the due diligence with good quality in the valuation process.
The process of enhancement needs to be also taken into consideration as per the experiences
from the previous merger and acquisitions deals. The communication process before the merger
process will be further helpful in initiating the decisions pertaining to before the merger. The
quality team management will be able to bring trustworthy consultants who have a contributing
role in this process. Some of the different types of the other concerns of the process of the M&A

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need to be consisting of the performance improvement which will contribute to the performance
of the company (Younge, Tong and Fleming 2015).
The execution of the plan can be discerned to be crucial in the post transaction phase. As
the consensus is selected for the right strategy it is important for the management to decide on
the practices which are reflected with the appropriate strategy for reaching at the vital practices.
The relevant issues such as Poor communication need to be corrected in the initial stage itself.
The swiftness in the integration is depicted to be important for both the parties involved in the
M&A process (Lebedev et al. 2015). The important strategic fit needs to be inferred with the
targeting the complementary along with necessary adjustments, which will be able to ensure
integrity in the long-run. In addition to this, the organizational fit can be also enhanced with the
parallel structures which are seen to be inferred with the developments to be made in the HR and
marketing division. In many times, the enhancement needs to be also incorporated by putting an
augmented focus on the cultural fit. Several researches have been able to show concerning
factors which are seen to be related to the various types of the factors which are seen to be
depicted among smaller scale; corporate cultures contributing to the M&A process (Rahman and
Lambkin 2015).
Discussing whether successful mergers and acquisitions are successful in short, medium or
long-term:
The presence of some specific factors needs to consider at the time to conduct Merger
and Acquisition (M&A); and the presence of all these aspects makes the M&As successful.
When M&As shows in the headline of the news, most of the time it is the big companies that
catch the attention of the people (Devi 2016). However, in this process, it needs to be assess that
whether the M&As of all the big companies become successful or not. In most of the cases, it is

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considered that the M&As of the medium and small companies are the most successful ones than
the large corporations. According to a new research carried out by Cass Business School in
London, the small and medium sized M&As have become more successful as compared to the
M&As of the multibillion dollars transactions (imaa-institute.org 2018). It has been seen that the
large deals of M&As are successful for the period of six months follow the deal, and decrease in
the return can be seen after a period of six months from the deal. However, at the same time, the
small and medium-sized deals are majorly successful in the long-run after the deal (Piesse et al.
2013).
The presence of a stark contrast can be seen in the timing of the return between the large
deals and medium-sized deals in M&A as less amount of returns can be seen in case of the large
M&A deals on the long-run. According to research, the average premium paid for the M&A
deals over $1 billion is 16.5%; and this is lower than the average return that is 27.4% for the
transactions worth $100 million to $1 billion (imaa-institute.org 2018). Thus, the presence of a
large gap can be seen between the prices and two specific reasons can be blamed for this. The
large organizations M&A deals with massive price always attracts many media coverage that can
lead to create massive media coverage; and this aspect creates joy among the shareholders that is
not always fully justified by the M&A fundamentals. This aspect leads to the rise in the share
prices to unrealistic level that is not sustainable over the time. Secondly, large companies can
create trouble in the process of integration after the deal. In the process of the M&A of two large
companies, it is a tough job to capture the desired synergies that can be done effortlessly in case
of the small and medium companies (imaa-institute.org 2018).
Price paid for the acquisition is considered as another major factor for the failure of the
M&As of the large companies. The drop in the return of the shareholders has a connection with

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the execution failure of the deal as per the expectations (Jayaraman, Srinivasan and Arunachalam
2014). In most of the cases of M&As, the integration process takes place during the time of
integration of the merger when different issues rise like cultural issues and others. Thus, failure
in the deal can be seen when the companies are not ready for addressing the people as well as
cultural issues (Anderson, Havila and Nilsson 2013). In the research of Global Workforce Study
in United States, employees who have recently witnessed a merger or acquisition are less likely
to be highly engaged in their jobs where they are more unlikely to be disengaged. It implies that
in the large companies, thousands of employees can be negatively impacted by merger or
acquisition that includes many high performers. However, in case of the small and medium-sized
companies, they become able to address these employee related issues in an effective manner in
the absence of large employee base after the deal (Ashfaq et al. 2014).
It can be seen from the above discussion that the above-discussed matters make the
M&As of small and medium-sized companies more successful than the large companies. This
particular aspect can be discussed in the better manner with the help of certain examples of
M&A; and they are discussed below:
The failure of Microsoft Nokia Merger: It needs to be mentioned that the merger between
Microsoft Corporations and Nokia failed and there are certain reasons that can be held
responsible. Both the companies did not have the strategy for sharing vision or common passion,
but both the companies considered one another as their driving force for success. After that, both
these companies failed in understanding the market trend as well as dynamics. For example, after
two years of the completion of the deal, Microsoft was able in capturing only 3.5% of the
Smartphone market. This particular aspect indicates towards the reduction of the return to the

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shareholders that led to the decreased investment in the smart phone sector (businessinsider.in
2018).
Procter & Gamble (P&G) Acquired Gillette: It is considered as one of the most successful
merger in the history. The main success factor for this merger was to retain the top talents by
P&G from Gillette and it was not an easy task as there were recruiters after the top performers of
Gillette. It needs to be mentioned that P&G controlled all these issue with the help of effective
strategies. The company took their time on researching the fact that how these two companies
can be merged in the most successful manner (forbes.com 2018).
The above discussion shows that the successful mergers require time for various purposes
like market research, strategy development, situation analysis, employees’ retention and others.
The large business organizations need to consider these aspects for the purpose of successful
M&As (Xu 2017).
Conclusion:
From the above discussion, it has been evaluated that the business mergers and
acquisitions could be considered as a feasible strategy to grow the bottom line. The organizations
consolidate for removing additional capacity, acquiring technology rapidly rather than
developing the same, raising market access and enhancing the performance of the target
organization. The acquisition process includes the proactive detection of the pool of likely
merger or acquisition candidates that could meet the objectives associated with strategic financial
growth in service lines or identified markets. This constitutes of methodical identification of
“outside the box” possibilities and “probable suspects” with the help of research, management
experience, consultant use and other methods.

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At the time there is acceptance of offer, the management of the acquiring company needs
to assure full and comprehensive review of due diligence of the target organization for
completely understanding opportunities, risks and issues related to the transactions. Due
diligence includes review of the financial, operational and legal position of the target for assuring
information accuracy gathered previously in the process of acquisition and complete disclosure
of information pertinent to the transactions. In general, the process of M&A is identified with a
specific culture fit, geographic location and product to the market, the industry and business
perspectives. The focus of the M&A is seen to be based on the evaluation of the liquidity and
financial capability. In general, M&A is not simply considered as a financial transition and it
may be easily misinterpreted if the same has been considered. Some of the various types of the
improvement measures need to be discerned in terms of the liquidity above the profit-and-loss
statements. Some of the necessary enhancements which may be brought to the merger and
acquisition process need to be depicted as per keeping an eye on the capital structure and using
strategies pertaining to debt and equity accessing. Secondly, the M&A activity needs to be also
considered with the consideration with three divisions: finance, sales and marketing and
operations.
Successful organizations follow a proven path of general mergers and acquisitions.
Initially, they carry out meaningful strategic planning. With the help of this practice, the
acquisition targets are identified effectively, which are deemed to be superior strategic fits,
instead of mere opportunities for ensuring business growth. Secondly, they carry out their
functions via due diligence work. Such performance varies from the poor performers, since they
plumb the insides of the business processes, capacities in acquisition targets and abilities of
information systems for ensuring strategic fit and sound valuation.

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Section 2:
Idea 1: The impact of CSR, Accountability and Governance of Firm Performance
Under this section of this report, my objective is to write a reflection on the selected idea
based on the provided themes. In this context, I would like to mention the fact that we have
studied and learnt all the required dimensions of the provided five themes with the aim to
develop clear understanding about these themes. Another main objective for me for the study of
these five themes is the development of the ability to generate idea related to these themes with
the aim to provide an effective reflection. I would like to mention that the obtained knowledge
about these themes has been majorly helpful for me in my future finance and accounting
profession.
As per the above discussion, I have learnt about five different themes in my module and
all these themes are related to the accounting and finance profession. However, for the purpose
to write the reflection, on theme that I have selected is CSR, Accountability and Governance.
High relevance of this theme with my future accounting profession is the main reason for I have
selected this theme. Under this theme, I have selected a specific idea for the purpose of reflection
writing; and the idea is The impact of CSR, Accountability and Governance of Firms’
Performance.
The presence of different kinds of tools can be seen that assist use in the process to write
reflection reports; and one of such tools is the Gibbs model or Gibbs approach. There are six
dimensions of this model. These dimensions will help me in reflecting my thoughts on the
chosen theme and idea (Boud, Keogh and Walker 2013). The model is shown below:

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Figure 1: Gibbs Model
(Source: Boud, Keogh and Walker 2013)
Description: The main aim of this part of the reflection is to provide the required background
information on the selected theme. As my theme is CSR, Accountability and Governance, I shall
provide the required background information of these three aspects in this part of the reflection.
As per my acquired knowledge from the module, the main aim of CSR in the businesses
is to ensure that the companies conduct their business operations in the most ethical manner. It
implies that the managements of the companies are needed to consider the effects of their
business operations on the economic condition, society, environment and human rights. In the
past years, it was believed that the main aim of the business organizations was the maximization

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of the value of the shareholders; but this view has changed totally in the recent years as the
business organizations have become more aware of the negative effects of their business
activities on the environment and societies (Tai and Chuang 2014). For this reason, they have
started to take positive initiatives in the form of engaging in activities for the good of the public,
environment and communities; such as education, sanitation, social security, healthcare and
others. At the same time, it needs to be mentioned that the companies must have effective
governance mechanism when they are under the constant pressure of providing the CSR related
services (Ni and Van Wart 2015). In this aspect, I have learnt about different view of CSR. From
the learning in the module, I have understood one aspect that the CSR initiatives of the
companies are related to the performance of the companies due to the fact that the companies
with effective CSR initiatives create a good image of the company to their stakeholders.
Another major part that I have learnt in the module is the accountability and governance.
Under this process, I have acquired knowledge about two specific aspects related to the topic;
they are responsible innovation for sustainable development and international accountability
standards. I have also determined the fact that both of these aspects are related to the financial
performance of the companies as the presence of effective governance and accountability helps
the companies in conducting their business operations in the most ethical manner by complying
with the required laws and regulations (Michelon, Boesso and Kumar 2013). In the module, I
have come to know that International Accounting Standards (IAS) has provided the company
with the mechanism for providing guidance so that the business organizations can understand
and are encouraged to systematically access, communicate and measure their social and
environmental performance. Thus, it can be said from the above discussion all the aspects of
CSR, accountability and governance are required for the effective performance of the companies.

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In this context, I would like to mention the fact that I have developed a specific idea from
the acquired knowledge in the module about the theme of CSR, accountability and governance;
and the idea is the impact of CSR, Accountability and Governance on Firms’ Performance. From
the study of the specific theme, I have realized that the business organizations which are
involved in effective CSR activities get an added benefit as the customers consider them as
environment friendly companies. This particle aspect helps the companies in attracting customers
that eventually helps in improving the financial performance of the firms .
Feelings: At the time of studying this particular theme, certain questions and thoughts came into
my mind that helped me in deriving the idea. At the time of the continuation of the module, my
aim was to apply the concepts of CSR, accountability and governance in the real life profession.
At the time of the course, I had come to know about the fact that the business organizations
involved in effective CSR initiatives enjoy competitive advantage. At the same time, the
presence of effective governance mechanism within the organizations helps the companies in
maintaining the required legitimacy at the time to conduct their business operations. According
to the materials of the course, the aspect of responsible innovation in the sustainable
development helps the business organizations in the invention of strategies that helps them
continuing their business operations in the most sustainable manner with the help of innovation
(Saeidi et al. 2015).
At the same time, I have also come to know about the fact that the compliance with the
international accounting standards helps the companies in the development of an effective
corporate governance mechanism that allows the companies in complying with all the required
standards and laws with the aim to maintain the organizational legitimacy. Hence, it can be seen
that both of these aspects have positive impact on the business organizations. The outcome of all

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of these courses and modules has helped me in the development of the idea as it is clear that
these aspects have positive impact on the companies.
Evaluation: After the generation of the idea, it was needed for me to establish the idea in a more
specific manner with the aim to establish the relationship between the performance of the
companies and the aspects like CSR, accountability and governance. In this aspect, I would like
to mention the fact that there is not any conclusive relation between the CSR practices and the
performance of the firms, but the presence of a positive relation between these two aspects. I
have learnt from the module that the business organizations can develop an effective strategy for
promoting the financial objective by the alignment of the company objective with the CSR and
governance objectives. This particular aspect helps the business organizations in strengthening
relationship with the stakeholders by adding value to them (Adeneye and Ahmed 2015).
The managements of the companies believe the fact that the overall performance of the
companies can be augmented with the improvements in the CSR and governance initiatives. As
per my learning, the customers of the business organizations develop a positive attitude towards
the companies when they come to know that the companies manufacture the products in the most
responsible manner. This aspect boosts the revenue of the companies in the presence of large
customer base and it leads to the increased profitability of them. At the same time, the presence
of effective corporate governance mechanism helps the companies in maintaining the required
compliance with all the rules and regulations at the time to provide the CSR services. This aspect
also plays an integral part in improving the performance of the companies (Story and Neves
2015).
Analysis: I have acquired knowledge on the chosen theme as well as idea from the provide
literature in the course module. I would like to mention the fact that innovation has a part to play

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in the process of CSR of the companies and the improvement in the overall performance. At the
same time, I have learnt that there are certain areas in the countries that need improvements as
well as developments. Some of these areas are health, education, environment, climate change
and others. For this reason, under the process of CSR, it is the responsibility of the business
organizations to take into consideration these issues by taking initiatives for the revival of the
whole situation (Siddiq and Javed 2014).
In this situation, I would like to mention that I have selected the idea under the theme by
taking into consideration all the above-mentioned aspects. However, there is always scope for
me for the improvements in the idea with the inclusion of certain other aspects of both the CSR
and corporate governance. I could have certain other factors related to corporate governance with
the aim to make the idea more specific as well as effective. At the same time, it needs to be
mentioned that I have taken into consideration most of the relevant aspects in this particular idea.
However, the scope for continuous improvement always needs to be taken into consideration
(Aggarwal 2013).
Conclusion: This part can be considered as one of the most important parts in this reflection as it
shows the overall understanding about the matter. Under this section, I would like to mention
that I have come to know about certain aspect about the selected theme that is CSR,
accountability and governance. From the whole module, I have gained understanding about the
fact that the effective continuation of the CSR activities in the presence of effective governance
can contribute towards the improved overall performance of the business organizations; and
there are certain reasons for this. It can be said as the reason that the CSR activities help the
companies in forming a positive image of the companies in the minds of the customers. More

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specifically, the customers start to consider these companies as environmental friendly in the
presence of their CSR and corporate governance activities.
At the same time, I would also like to mention that I have been able in acquiring the
knowledge about these matters by thoroughly observing all the materials of the module; and I
will take this same strategy for the next time for the completion of any specific task as it provides
me with the desired positive outcome. In case the result of the study is negative, it would be
required for me to take some other ways like the study of more literatures on the same area with
the aim to acquire more knowledge as well as understanding.
Apart from the above, I have certain suggestions to provide for the readers on this theme
and idea. It is needed for all to take into consideration the materials of the module on serious
basis as they are majorly helpful in the development of the idea from the provided topic.
Development of the idea requires vast understanding as well as knowledge on the selected
theme. At the same time, it is suggested to consider the reading of the relevant outside materials
with the aim to acquire more understanding about the selected topic and theme. These processes
are helpful in the overall reflection.
Action Plan: At the end of the report, it is needed to develop the action plan with the achieve
better result in the next time. In this context, I feel the need to take into account a real life
company with the aim to establish the relationship between the CSR and corporate governance
with the firm’s performance. The analysis of the annual report as well as the sustainability report
of the selected company will provide the valuable insight on both the CSR activities and the
financial performance of the companies for a specific period. In the presence of this strategy, it
will be easy for me to compare the fact that whether the CSR and corporate governance related
activities of the company are helpful in improving the financial performance of that particular

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company. At the same time, it will be required to study some other literature on the same theme
and topic for gaining more effective insights about the selected idea.
Idea 2: Mergers and Acquisitions – Its impact on Management and Employees
Introduction
The course has been conducive for me in knowing about the different types of concepts
related to the field of M&A. I have been able to identify and define the characteristics which are
essential for making a successful merger deal. I have been able to know how some companies
despite of having high chance of success rate are not able to realise the projected synergy within
the expected time frame while the others are seen with a lower rate of success within the
specified time frame.
In the topic spotting winning mergers Critical Characteristics, I got the insights on the
role played by the employees and customers for the success of a M&A process. This particular
notion has motivated me the most and therefore I would like to share my understanding on the
idea “Mergers and Acquisitions – Its impact on Management and Employees”. In order to put
embellishments to my discourse I have used examples from previous companies which has
witnessed such a phenomenon. The application of such a reflective study has been applied with
the use of reflective cycle by Gibbs. I have segregated my understanding of the idea into
decryption of the idea, my feedings, and evaluation of the overall experience, analysis,
conclusion and action plan (Green 2016).
Description
According to me, merger and acquisition is discerned as the process of take over and
amalgamations which are often placed in an interchangeably manner in which the firms come
combine together for availing the benefits. This is essential to overcome the problem of the

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increasing issues of competition and achieving the synergy in business operations. The various
types of the sources of the study learned by me has been conducive in knowing about how the
restrictions led to pave the way competition and free trade. The impact of M&A on the
Management and Employees is understood as a human resource aspect which is considered with
significant management theories and the results have been depicted to be positive relationship of
impact on M&A on the employees and management. I have come to learn that Empirical
evidence supports the notion that human capital practices such as employee participation can
influence both organization growth and performance. I have been also able to collect proofs from
the previous research studies which are concerned with non-satisfaction of the workforce which
eventually affects the performance of the employees. The outcome of such a learning experience
has suggested me about management might be able to increase the overall motivation of the
employees by introducing several improvements in the working conditions and policies (Sposito
2017).
In my opinion M&A activity has the ability to influence the top management in several
ways. More so ever it may also involve ‘clash of egos’ pertaining to the combination deals
among the business. It needs to be also seen that some of the other source of the study has been
conducive for me in gaining insight in terms of the variations of the two cultures which may
result brought by the M&A. Throughout my discussion I have found the major issues with the
pre and post mergers situations related to the cultural shocks. The next stages of my reflective
report have depicted on the training methods to handle the different types of the environmental
challenges and also recommended some alternatives for the success of the event (Khotbi and
Rousseau 2018).
Feelings

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I feel that the various types of the concepts related to the merger and acquisitions are seen
to be depicted as per the evaluative and qualitative techniques associated to the malpractice of
using EPS. Some of the of the other relevant sections of my study experience has been helpful
for me in gaining insight of the number of issues which are seen to be related to know about the
impact of M&A on the Management and Employees based on the types of the merger deals. The
different types of the merger deals are mainly seen to be ranging in form of horizontal merger,
vertical merger, congeneric merger and conglomerate merger. I feel that the different aspect of
the impacts of the M&A are directly associated to voluntary quitting of jobs and loss of
expertise. Some of the additional human related risks are often understood in terms of the
lowered level of commitment and disloyalty. I also feel that some of the of the other relevant
factors are seen to be related to number of issues are also related to Dissatisfaction, frustration,
confusion and stress due to Dysfunctional behaviour and sabotage. I have been also able to know
that some of the other relevant issues pertaining to concerns of M&A are often associated with
the people rejecting the assignments, increasing in the absenteeism, power struggles also with
health problems (Cartwright and Cooper 2014).
The course of the study has provided me with a relevant insight in number of other
concerning areas which are often related to the growth-oriented problems emerging from M&A
activities. I have learned the relevant concerns which are related to the major problems for
differentiating the disastrous deals from great ones. I also feel that understanding the financial
interest of acquiring company is essential in understanding the important role of the on-going
shareholders impacting the merger valuation approach to useof information which can be
evaluated by the employees. I believe that in general the information is comprehended with the
application of APP versus NRS-related methods (Bena and Li 2014).

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Evaluation
The positive effect derived from my research study has been conducive for me in
knowing about the various types of the factors which are associated to the involvement of the
HR. The learning of the HR theories is particularly conducive for identifying cultural differences
among the employees of an organization. I have been able to gather sufficient evidence which
are seen to be relevant with knowing about benefits which may be brought to the employees
pertaining to the allegiance. Throughout my study I have been able to develop a new strategic
plan which is seen to be associated to the study of the goals, objectives and overriding messages.
During my learning gathered from the institution I was able to know about the transitional teams
which are developed with the early stages and pivotal for the success of the M&A activity. I was
also able to learn that leadership and supervisory training may be helpful for an initiation of the
M&A process (Lebedev et al. 2015).
However, some of the negative impact of the evaluations can be directly discerned with
the several numbers of the negativities such as employee voluntary quitting of jobs and loss of
expertise. Some of the additional challenges are inferred in terms of the lowered level of
commitment and disloyalty. I also feel that some of the of the other relevant factors are seen to
be related to number of issues are also related to Dissatisfaction, frustration, confusion and stress
due to Dysfunctional behaviour and sabotage. I have been also able to know that some of the
other relevant issues pertaining to concerns of M&A are often associated with the people
rejecting the assignments, increasing in the absenteeism, power struggles also with health
problems (Lee, Mauer and Xu 2018).

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Additionally, a larger number of the corporate organizations are seen to be seen to losing
their skilled employees. It needs to be also depicted that in several instances the process of
merger is not easily acceptable by all.
Analysis
I have analysed my experiences as per the impact of M&A on employee of the
companies. I have come to know that United Beverages was seen to be acquired by Shaw
Wallace for expanding its chain of business operations. The acquisitions pertaining to such
operations by the company is seen to be associated to the number of factors, which are seen to be
particularly relevant to the employee issue pertaining to the merger deal. The synergies brought
by M&A on the employees need to be considered with number of factors pertaining to three
main categories. In the first category the universally accepted facts of the pre-deal phase are
evaluated. In second stage some of the main synergies are seen to be depicted to be number of
issues which are related to the combination of the facts in the transactional phase. The third
phase I have come to know that the relevant synergy is seen to be created with combination of
complex technologies which is realized with number issues pertaining merger deal (Deng and
Yang 2015).
The overall assessment of the impact of the M&A activity is seen to essential in these
days for both survival and growth of the company. The analysis further suggested that in all the
organization both the management and the employees has been seen to be working hard to make
the merger process a successful one. It needs to be discerned that during the post-merger phase
there has main clashes between take place, which is main cause of the culture issues. The main
strategy implemented by the companies is needed to be discussed in form of the expansion of the
business which may be having a significant impact on the employees. In my opinion the

30FINANCE
significant factor of the merger and acquisition is often defined with stress pertaining to
employees to the change brought by the merger and acquisition (Cooper and Finkelstein 2014).
I have been also able to learn that some of the other negative impacts of the merger and
acquisition need to be depicted with Fear of Job Loss at the time of the merger process. Some of
the important aspect of the completeness of the M&A needs to be inferred in terms of concerns
of job security which has resulted in violence. I believe that at the time of merger when the
employees are concerned about the job security also becomes more competitive which may lead
to conflict at the same time. At the time of M&A, it is important for the HR professional to be
aware of the emerging concerns which are depicted with the future of the company. Despite of
competition being good in some instances, it is having negative repercussions such as creating
conflict in the organization (Levi, Li and Zhang 2014).
Conclusion
Some of the alternatives for conflict management pertaining to the merger and acquisition
deal could have been resolved with initiating the theories such as “intrapersonal, interpersonal,
intra-group, intergroup, multi-party or intercultural”. These measures are needed to supported
with adequate and accurate conflict management strategies pertain to the M&A processes. In my
opinion the first alternative needed to be initiated with the identification of the root causes of the
process along with the output conflicts specially related to the areas of “social psychological
theories of conflict and conflict management”. In addition to this, it is also impotent to focus on
the number of theories which are particularly concerned with M&A Processes being the Pillars
of Foreign Direct Investment. In my opinion the adoption of an effective human aspect” of the
business processes is inferred to be useful with the global production networks and global
transactions. Some of the other theories related to this, needs to be further discerned in form of

31FINANCE
the effect of the M&A on the employees during a cross border deal. In my opinion knowing
about the global performance of the various types of the human rights factors such as “physical
integrity rights, empowerment rights, worker’s rights and women’s and economic rights” is
having a considerable influence on the employee performance. Therefore, M&A shift towards
HRM is considered as the main alternative to resolve the various types of the issues pertaining to
the conflicts among the employees in general. It needs to be also depicted that some of the
various types of other factors are associated to the process of technology which may be seen as
an additional burden to the existing employees.
Action Plan
I have considered the action plan with the several numbers of other strategies which may
be evaluated with the use of number of motivational theories. The information of the
motivational theories are provided such as “Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory”, Herzberg’s
Motivation Hygiene Theory, McClelland’s Need Theory, McGregor’s Participation Theory,
Urwick’s Theory Z, Argyris’s Theory, Vroom’s Expectancy Theory, Porter and Lawler’s
Expectancy Theory”. These motivational theories will be essential in identifying the several
numbers of issues pertaining to the employees opinion and the way of working post M&A. I
would also like to tackle the problems related to the impact of problems associated to the
concerns which are seen to be related with increasing in the absenteeism, power struggles also
with health problems. In addition to this, some of the other problems of the action plan needs to
be evaluated with the time taken for the evaluation of the overall concerns of the motivational
theories.

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